What is this very annoying noise inside my exterior wall?!

minibbb

I live in a top floor flat (second storey) within a purpose built block. I am at the edge of the building so my living room is effectively the exterior wall.

Ever since I moved in there has been a loud and very annoying noise coming from within the wall whenever its windy, with the wind being so bad as it is at the moment the noise is unbearable and I cant sleep :mad:

Its basically a loud clanging/creaking noise which sounds quite metallic. Initially i thought it was coming from the roof however the management company have been on the roof and can find nothing wrong up there. I have since formed the opinion that its coming from inside the all cavity.

The outside wall is brick and my inside wall is plasterboard and sounds hollow when I knock it. What could be inside it to make such a racket when its windy? I cant see any holes in the wall from outside so really not sure whats happening!

I have a good recording of the noise I could email to anyone who may have an idea what this could be! Many thanks in advance for any help!

Yolina

I'd say it's probably not inside your wall but a noise that gets transmitted along your wall - could be pretty much anything like a gutter that's moving ever so slightly. I do get a rather loud creaking noise in one room too when it's windy which comes from the terrace above, I think in this case something to do with where the glass and metal railings meet the brick part.

thirdsystem

minibbb wrote: »

I live in a top floor flat (second storey) within a purpose built block. I am at the edge of the building so my living room is effectively the exterior wall.

Ever since I moved in there has been a loud and very annoying noise coming from within the wall whenever its windy, with the wind being so bad as it is at the moment the noise is unbearable and I cant sleep :mad:

Its basically a loud clanging/creaking noise which sounds quite metallic. Initially i thought it was coming from the roof however the management company have been on the roof and can find nothing wrong up there. I have since formed the opinion that its coming from inside the all cavity.

The outside wall is brick and my inside wall is plasterboard and sounds hollow when I knock it. What could be inside it to make such a racket when its windy? I cant see any holes in the wall from outside so really not sure whats happening!

I have a good recording of the noise I could email to anyone who may have an idea what this could be! Many thanks in advance for any help!

Very similar problem has commenced in my 6year old two story detached house after the high winds on Monday. I have spent ages trying to trace the exact source within the wall. I am now sure it is coming from within the wall at the chimney breast for our living flame gas fire. Possibly the flue area. Exact noise as you describe and in my sons bedroom. I am still firming up on this diagnosis and having a search about on the net.

EXTREMELY annoying on such a new house.

thirdsystem

Could be a wall tie between exterior/interior walls, found this........


//forum.snagging.org/snagging-requests-help/1048-creaking-noise-coming-gable-wall.html


Apparently, as a new user, I am not allowed to post links so perhaps the above address pasted into your browser may assist. I have removed the http:

minibbb

Thankyou for the replies. I should have clarified before that the block is a flat roofed building and doesn't have any guttering running along the side of the building!

Therefore the mention of wall ties is very interesting. From putting my ear to the wall it seems to be in a good 2-3 places so maybe a couple of ties are at fault.

The only other thing I can think of is a wooden board running along the edge of the building just below the roofline although I would have hoped that this would have been checked when the scaffolding was up!

Luckily someone from the managing agent is coming out on Monday so see me so Im hoping its windy!!

iamcornholio

From your description it sounds like it may be a timber framed building, and if so, poor detailing or quality in construction can cause reverberation and creaking of the internal frame - which is very hard to identify and eliminate

Kiran

This is only a guess, without actually being there its all that can be offered. But if it is a clanging noise you are getting, it sounds like it could be the wall plate strap not being fixed. it would be a bar of metal about 20mm wide and possibly about 900mm long 3-4mm thick. If it sounds like a meaty clang that could be the problem. You said you were top floor, does the noise appear to be roughly head height?

Wall ties don't really have enough weight to make clanging noises, but could well whistle if wind is getting in to the cavity.

minibbb

iamcornholio wrote: »

From your description it sounds like it may be a timber framed building, and if so, poor detailing or quality in construction can cause reverberation and creaking of the internal frame - which is very hard to identify and eliminate

I think it could possibly be timber framed, the two outer sides are brick built as is the front and back of the ground floor. The front and back of the rest of the block is timber with a plastic cladding. See the pic attached, I live in the top left flat when looking from the front.



Could I email either of you the sound clip to see what you think?

Chunks

What do your other neighbours say? You may get the answer next week of course but it could be a host of things (including what has already been stated).

You need to be careful about sharing personal details away on here by the way ......

Kiran

minibbb wrote: »

I think it could possibly be timber framed, the two outer sides are brick built as is the front and back of the ground floor. The front and back of the rest of the block is timber with a plastic cladding. See the pic attached, I live in the top left flat when looking from the front.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=chalvington+house&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=UA-vP3-10pNTFM:&imgrefurl=http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1832416&docid=seN4jgDIkLhYHM&itg=1&imgurl=http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/01/83/24/1832416_7258e64c.jpg&w=640&h=430&ei=j9DoTtWvA8Gp8APRmriZCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=390&vpy=160&dur=3632&hovh=184&hovw=274&tx=71&ty=68&sig=105281282351325101442&page=1&tbnh=146&tbnw=200&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0

Could I email either of you the sound clip to see what you think?

I've sent you a PM

minibbb

Chunks wrote: »

What do your other neighbours say? You may get the answer next week of course but it could be a host of things (including what has already been stated).

You need to be careful about sharing personal details away on here by the way ......

Link removed cheers Chunks, didnt see it showed the address too

Neighbour below me hears it too although not as bad as me as ive been down to check. No one lives on the ground floor so not sure if it can be heard there too. Before I moved into my flat I lived in the top floor one next door and couldn't hear a thing.

Cheers Kiran got it